Earth and Space Science
MYP Year 1 Sciences — Earth and Space Science
Earth and Space Science splits into two connected stories: what's happening under your feet — weathering, the rock cycle, Earth's layers — and what's happening over your head — the Solar System, Moon phases, eclipses, seasons. Examiners love giving you a data table of rock samples losing mass in different conditions and asking you to read it correctly before you've written a single 'because'. Get comfortable pulling a pattern out of numbers first; a lot of the marks in this topic are earned before the explanation even starts.
Overview: How the Topic Fits Together
Everything in this topic connects back to two questions: what is Earth made of and how does it change, and where is Earth in space and how does that position affect it. Weathering and the rock cycle explain the surface material changing; Earth's structure explains what lies beneath it; the Solar System, Moon phases, eclipses and seasons explain Earth's position and motion relative to the Sun and Moon.
- Rock questions almost always give you a table of masses or measurements — read the data correctly before reaching for 'freeze-thaw' or 'acid rain' as an explanation.
- Space questions test geometry as much as vocabulary: where is the Sun, Earth and Moon relative to each other, and what does that do to light and shadow.
- The two biggest examiner traps in this whole topic are treating weathering and erosion as the same thing, and explaining seasons using distance from the Sun instead of tilt.
The shape of the chapter
Command terms you'll actually meet in this topic
| Command term | What it demands | AO | Mark-earning move |
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Give a short, precise fact with no reasoning attached. | Recall | One clean fact earns the mark — extra detail wastes time and adds nothing on a 1-mark question. |
| Identify | Pick out or name the correct item from data given (a table, graph or diagram). | Recall | You must reference the actual data point (e.g. 'Sample C, 2.8 g'), not just the general idea. |
| Describe | Give an account of what happens, in sequence or with features — no reasons needed. | Application | For 2 marks you usually need two separate, linked points, not the same idea said twice. |
| Explain | Give the reason, cause or mechanism — answer 'why', not just 'what'. | Analysis | A description with no cause-and-effect link scores zero on an explain question, even if it's scientifically true. |
| Suggest | Apply your knowledge to an unfamiliar situation — there's no single memorised answer. | Analysis | Any scientifically sound reasoning is credited, even if it isn't the 'expected' answer. |
Key point
Overview